Questions galore

We had gone to the park this evening with KB and KG and two boys who are their friends.  My friend is moving houses, so she left her boys with me at the park.  It had rained this morning so the sand was perfect for building sand castles because it had been sunny the whole afternoon but the sand underneath was still damp.  We made so many sand castles.  And volcanoes and mountains and roads for KG's dump truck to pass through and the tourist vehicles to come and see the erupted volcano.  We dug a hole deep enough for four kids and two moms to sit in after she came to pick the boys up.  Of course it is a lot of fun when we are at the park.  But once we start getting into the car, the tension builds up in my system.  They are filled with dirt, completely tired and hungry.  But they have to have a shower as soon as we get home and I have to rush and get dinner ready and settle them before they start getting cranky from hunger.  And in the meanwhile get dinner ready for my father-in-law also.  Dinner times are such a scramble and it is exactly the time the kids also pick their fights and irritate each other to the maximum. 

On the plus side though, both kids were so hungry that they ate their dinner really fast.  I usually read to them as they eat their dinner.  Today's book was "A trip to the moon" with pictures of astronauts and the different components of a rocket/space ship etc.  KB was reeling of so many questions some of which I have to look up the answers to.  1) Mamma, if the sun is in outer space, why does it look as if it is inside the earth?  2) If outer space does not have gravity and earth has gravity, then where does gravity even come from?  3) If earth has gravity, then how come clouds don't get pulled down by that force? 4) How far do we have to dig to get to the earth's core? 5) How are rocks formed? How can soil turn into hard rock? 6) Where do they get the oxygen from inside the space ship?  7) How do they get into the space ship when the rocket is so tall? 8) How come the rocket can only take 5 or 6 people in it but so many more people fly in the plane? I thought the rocket was more powerful than the plane!

Goodness - I needed some physics expert next to me to answer all his questions clearly.  Thankfully B came home in the middle of these questions and I told him to take over and answer all these clearly. 

Is god alive?

Normally a question like that comes loaded with the anxiety and anguish of the person saying it.  But coming from a child the question "Is God alive?" is just that - a question of pure curiosity.  KB was talking to me about something - I can't remember the context of the conversation - but I said something like - "That's why God gave us a mind to think!".  I knew the moment I said it that the conversation will turn to God. 

KB immediately asked me, "Mamma, is God alive?".  I was in the middle of what I was doing and I didn't want the conversation to turn in this direction.  So I just made light of his question and said, "Well, KB, hard to say.  Anyway - I was just saying that we can think".  He pondered still about his own question and said, "Mamma, I think God is something someone made up.  It is just a word, it is not a real person.  It is like how you say Leprechaun". 

Oh dear! How did it come to this! I did not continue the conversation about this at that point in time.  He still has his favorites when it comes to Gods.  Hanuman is his most favorite God.  But on the other hand this idea has somehow gotten into his head.  I guess the ambivalence I feel about God is something he feels too.  He has to develop his own personal God as he grows up and comes to understand his world more and more.  Nevertheless, it was funny in its own way!